Chiefs and Browns at opposite ends of NFL spectrum as they meet 4 years after tight playoff matchup

CLEVELAND — When they met in the postseason four years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns were both ascending teams. With young quarterbacks and dynamic playmakers, it appeared to be the start of a budding rivalry.

Never happened.

Only one team kept rising.

Since their 22-17 win over the Browns in a 2020 AFC divisional playoff, the Chiefs (12-1) have been to three Super Bowls, winning the past two. Patrick Mahomes has become the NFL's most dangerous, most clutch quarterback, and Travis Kelce is the game's preeminent tight end with a world-famous pop superstar girlfriend.

The Browns (3-10) went the other direction.

Cleveland has had three losing seasons, gave up on quarterback Baker Mayfield and made a colossal mistake with a franchise-shifting trade for Deshaun Watson that not only divided their fan base but could haunt the Browns for years.

And as the teams prepared to meet on Sunday — at opposite ends of the NFL spectrum — that matchup at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 17, 2021, seems even more distant.

"I don’t remember too much about that playoff game,” said Browns safety Juan Thornhill, who was with the Chiefs at the time. “The only thing that I remember is that controversial hit at the goal line. It feels like forever ago.”

The aforementioned "controversial hit” was delivered by Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen, who jarred the ball loose from Browns wide receiver Rashard Higgins with a helmet-to-helmet collision that wasn't penalized.

It was one of several big plays in a game that included Mahomes being pulled with a concussion and Cleveland's defense failing to stop backup QB Chad Henne's late scramble or fourth-down completion in the final minute.

If the Browns had won, maybe things are different. Maybe Mayfield stays. Maybe Cleveland is the gold standard. Maybe the path to the Super Bowl snakes along the shores of Lake Erie instead of through the Midwest heartland.

Maybe not. What happened, happened. But what's not debatable is that the Chiefs head into this week's game on an extraordinary, some would call it lucky, roll.

They've won 10 games by seven points or less this season, six on the final play. Last week, Matthew Wright, filling in for two injured kickers, caromed a 31-yard field goal off the left upright and through as Kansas City won by a 19-17 score for the second straight week.

These charmed Chiefs have been playing with fire all season and not been burned.

“You make your own luck,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "They’re a good football team. They’ve won close games. You win close games by putting yourself in position to go make a play here, make a play there. That puts you over the top.”

Of course it helps to have the incomparable Mahomes, who seems to make the impossible possible.

“He makes magic happen,” Cleveland safety Grant Delpit said.

Happy homecoming (Part II)

Kareem Hunt should be forgiven if he heads to the wrong sideline Sunday.

After five seasons with the Browns, the running back — and Cleveland native — returned this year to the Chiefs, who released him after he led the NFL in rushing in 2018 due to some serious off-the-field issues.

While Hunt led the Browns with nine rushing TDs last season, they didn't re-sign him in part because of his recovery from sports hernia surgery.

The Chiefs welcomed him back after Isiah Pacheco got hurt earlier this season.

“Definitely excited to see my family, see some of my close guys on the team,” said Hunt, who has run for 608 yards and five TDs in 10 games. “Spent the last five years there, so it’s kind of different to be on the other side.”

Kicking conundrums

The Chiefs and Browns have both dealt with kicking issues, though not the same kinds.

Kansas City could get back Harrison Butker, who returned to practice this week after having surgery on his left, non-kicking knee. The Chiefs used Spencer Shrader as a fill-in until he hurt his hamstring, and have been playing Wright since. He was 4 for 4 on field goals last week.

Cleveland's Dustin Hopkins is simply in a slump, a troubling one.

He has missed six of his last nine kicks, including two in Pittsburgh that could have tied the game.

Stefanski has insisted he trusts Hopkins, who signed a three-year, $15.9 million extension in the offseason that runs through 2027. Just in case, the Browns signed kicker Riley Patterson to the practice squad this week, a possible sign they may give Hopkins a break.

Vote of confidence

While unhappy with an unexpected losing season, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam doesn’t appear poised for an offseason overhaul.

Haslam strongly backed Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, both of whom were signed to contract extensions last summer.

At the owner’s meetings in Texas, Haslam was asked if he feels he has the right pieces in place.

“I do. We do,” Haslam said. “We’re very supportive.”

After making the playoffs a year ago, the Browns entered 2024 with Super Bowl aspirations that quickly evaporated. Watson played poorly, then ruptured his Achilles tendon, ending a make-or-break third year in Cleveland.

Browns guard Joel Bitonio was pleased to hear Haslam plans patience.

“That’s smart,” he said. “You obviously want to get the right people in the building. But you look at the teams that have had sustained success and they build a culture and they have those staffs that they can draft players that fit their culture and their playing style.

“You look at the Steelers, they’ve drafted the same type of D-linemen for the last 50 years. You get guys that fit a system and do those things. And so I think keeping the right guys in charge is a smart thing.”